Daily Archives: August 31, 2016

I am in the first week of a 6 week block with a focus on “Aerobic Power” (or AT/VO2 training zone). Today the AEP training was the good old Pete Plan 4x2km, at 5 minutes rest. Here are the training zones I am referring to:

Definition of Training Zones

The Pete Plan way of doing this is to take a target power (or pace) and try to hold it, then go all out in the final interval. The session average is the new target pace.

A year ago I read books on rowing training (for Masters rowers) and a book on swimming training (Olbrecht). This year I am reading “Watt-Messung im Radsport und Triathlon” (English original “Training and Racing with a Power Meter”) by Allen and Coggan, the guys behind TrainingPeaks.com. The book is focusing on cycling training. They have a different philosophy on intervals and recommend to continue doing the intervals until you are not able to do it at a minimum percentage (of Power) of the third interval. Yes, the third interval. Not the first or the second, but the third. The idea is that in the first two intervals you are searching for the “right” power and in the third one you have found it. Then you continue until you cannot hold

95%-97% of that power for 20 minute intervals

94%-96% for 10 minute intervals

93%-95% for 5 minute intervals

91%-92% for 3 minute intervals

88%-90% for 1 and 2 minute intervals

85%-88% for 30 second intervals

For rowing on the Concept2 erg, where you can keep your Watts in a very narrow band from stroke to stroke, it is easier to find the “right” power already in the first interval, but I decided to stick to the book’s “third interval” rule. In cycling, the power meter swings much more than in OTE rowing, so I guessed that I needed to row with less constant feedback. To simulate that I covered part of the PM5 so I would only see heart rate and meters left, then checking the average power during the break.

So a 5% drop signals the last interval. When executing the workout I didn’t reread the relevant section of the book and I wrongly remembered a 10% drop. Here is the result:

So in Watts, this is

244W – 104%

242W – 103%

234W – 100%

219W – 93%

It was a very hard workout. I wanted to stop after 2 intervals.

A few pictures have emerged from last weekend’s regatta:

My opponent (the guy I had to catch up with) in the mM 1x raceMe on 2 seat in the losing eight

Average heart rate 132 bpm so definitely a regeneration workout. Although, at one point, at the beginning of what Strava calls the “Olomoucká I” segment, a 500m long climb of 27 meters elevation difference (5% average grade, 10% max grade), another cyclist was just behind me, and I had to push a bit harder to avoid him taking over. That pushed my heart rate up to 176 bpm.

Evening

The post summer vacation / pre winter season lactate step test on the Concept2 erg. I did 6 intervals of 10 minutes at increasing power, taking a finger prick lactate measure after every step.

I started at 170 W and increased with 10W after each interval. After reaching 4.6 mmol/L at 210W and feeling like you feel at 4.6 mmol/L, I didn’t continue to 220W but took the last interval as a cooling down.

The goal is to determine the threshold, under which lactate is flat. For me, this seems to be just under 200W, but I will confirm this next week by rowing 6x10min at a constant power of 195W, taking a lactate measurement every 10 minutes.

Here is the graph:

The “Model” line is a line that I “fitted” through last year’s data. For comparison, here is the graph that I compiled in November 2015.

Lactate measurements November 2015.

So in comparison with November 2015, my steady state lactate level is higher, the step is more pronounced and seems to be shifted to the left. I guess that corresponds to being in a worse shape, fitness wise. Vacation effect, I think.

We’ll see if this is confirmed next week, but it looks like my steady state should not go above 195W.